


I don't feel it anymore

by kaljara



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 21:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5980885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaljara/pseuds/kaljara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the third sleeper wakes, nothing is the same. Adam's dreams are getting more vivid and horrible as the days pass, and Cabeswater seems less and less inclined to heed to the Greywaren's wishes. And in the midst of everything, a girl who is startlingly familiar appears at Monmouth Manufacturing to deliver Cabeswater's ultimatum--find some way to band together and face the third sleeper, or lose Cabeswater's favor and all the abilities it had once granted them so the forest can protect itself in the wake of the coming storm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I don't feel it anymore

_Something has shifted_ , the trees whisper, their branches shuddering in the violent wind.

Adam stands in the center of the clearing yards away, but he can hear the words ring clearly in his mind. Cabeswater is howling at him. Adam rarely ever dreams so vividly, so the feeling of the wind tearing at his threadbare clothing and the words of the forest fill him with apprehension. This is like nothing he's ever known.

He's not like Ronan--his terrors make it a point to come during broad daylight. They don't need the cover of night to try to alter their appearance, their purpose. There is no accident in their creation or intent.

But this is something else entirely. _The third sleeper no longer slumbers_ , the trees groan. Adam feels something tremulous build up in his chest, and he can't move from where he stands. He's rooted to the spot, being battered mercilessly by Cabeswater's wind.

"What do you need me to do?" he yells over the howling, his voice torn from his throat. The words are panicked. He cannot settle the thrumming of his heart.

Suddenly Cabeswater falls silent. The wind stops howling, the trees settle. It's eerie. Obscenely so.

Sunlight shines down on him blisteringly, unforgivingly, reminding him of his immobility. Reminding him that there is nowhere left to hide. After another beat of silence, a shadow cartwheels overhead, its form blurry and indistinct. Adam shields his eyes with his hands and squints up at the shadow, his eyes watering in protest. The thing-the shadow-has wings. A bird, maybe? It's hard to tell when Cabeswater is involved.

 _You are the hands_ , Cabeswater murmurs. The words are a noose around his neck. He wants to run away from this feeling that is eating him alive. _You are the eyes._

Adam closes his eyes and inhales deeply, and then drops his hands to his side. In defeat. In acceptance. The sun warms his face uncomfortably. "Yes. Yes, that was our deal."

The trees sigh. _Find the missing piece_ , they say, one after another, so quietly that Adam almost doesn't hear it. Dread claws at his chest. This is his worst nightmare--Cabeswater asking more of him. Asking for more than he's willing to give. Making him into something so twisted, so other, that not even his friends will be able to salvage the wreckage.

Adam opens his eyes, only now it is dark and cold and the only shadows present are the ones creeping toward him from the shelter of the trees. They drag themselves along the ground in shapeless masses, grass dying under their touch, withering away like it's been scorched by fire.

One of the shadows shivers upright, no longer crawling, and reaches for him. Adam wants to jerk away, wants his eyes to focus, but he's granted neither thing. _Wake up, Magician_ , whispers the shadow. Adam cannot breathe. The thing leans closer. _And come find me._

Adam jerks awake, shuddering violently. His muscles continue to spasm even after the threat has disappeared. Because that is the catch, isn't it? For him, threats never disappear. They simply lurk. Adam runs his hands through his hair and curses lowly. His sheets are tangled around his legs and cold sweat has made his pillow damp. And there are words in his head he doesn't remember wanting to say, refusing to stop churning sickeningly through his mind until he gasps them out: "I promise--I'll find you."

**Author's Note:**

> This will be updated sporadically, but I'm excited to work on this story. You can find me on Tumblr as kaljara!


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